Home of the Month: Beach Cottage Chic

This newly constructed Naples home aims for a feel that is nostalgic as well as new.

They say postponement is the father of failure, and if ever there were a couple who heeded that warning it would be the new owners of 180 Central Ave. in Naples. They were the first people to see the home after it had been furnished and put up for sale. And to that we say, “What took you so long?”

A beautifully done contemporary Old Florida beach cottage just four houses removed from the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico (and five blocks from Fifth Avenue South), the newly constructed single-family home rose from the figurative ashes of a smaller residence that previously resided on the 100-by-150-foot lot. Encore Development partners Mark DiSabato and Rick Armalavage razed the old structure with a vision to create an oasis in Old Naples that feels at once both nostalgic and thoroughly new.

At 5,327 square feet of living space under air (7,421 total), the five-bedroom, seven-bath home was completed at the end of March by Waterside Builders. Designed by Matthew Kragh of MHK Architecture & Planning to be a corner lot statement piece, the home’s layout is flexible enough to become a seven-bedroom, should the owners feel the need. And based on the finished product, they may have enough guests to warrant it.

“We say that we brought together an all-star team for this project,” says Dante DiSabato of Encore Realty, who listed the property. “We had Vrinda Albrecht and Susan Trivison of Clive Daniel furnish it and they did a great job, and we brought in Architectural Land Design to do the outdoor landscaping. Everything is unique to that specific lot. That way it has better long-term value for the owner.”

The home features all the amenities you might expect: a first-floor master suite, a den, flex space, a separate cabana, a three-and-a-half-car garage, a separate golf cart garage, interior and exterior fireplaces, and a kitchen to die for, featuring double islands, twin Sub-Zero hidden refrigerators and a 60-inch Wolf range that makes anyone within proximity look like a professional chef. (Just don’t ask us how to turn it on or to cook anything.) All the furnishings came with the home.

One of the more unique features—and something that was a first for Kragh—is a rooftop sundeck. “You can get a sliver of the Gulf of Mexico if you’re tall enough,” DiSabato says. “You really can.” It was such a hit that when one of Kragh’s other clients saw it they asked for one to be added to their new property.

And while the overall vibe of the home is Kragh’s signature beach cottage-chic, the location presented him not only some advantages but some challenges, too.

Namely, because the lot has two fronts, zoning restrictions made it virtually impossible to have the pool area face west without losing usable space.

“We took the risk of flipping the orientation,” Kragh says. “Instead of our initial instinct of having the opening of the C face west, which is a no-brainer, we flipped it and have the opening of the C facing east. By facing it east we were able to open that up into the front yard area.”

That gives the new owners a spacious pool area and sundeck with a view of the lush tropical setting. “It’s all about designing a house for the four or five magical months that we have each season,” Kragh says.

DEVELOPER: Encore Development

BUILDER: Waterside Builders

ARCHITECT: MHK Architecture & Planning

FURNISHINGS: Clive Daniel Home